Friday's Bakersfield Observed: Homelessness is out of control across the country, Ken Keller becomes CEO of Memorial Hospital, and are women in Bakersfield more likely to cheat on their husbands?

Friday, December 21, 2018

 Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this such a special to live. Send your tips to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... HOMELESSNESS: For the second consecutive year, the number of people living homeless on our streets has risen. There is a critical shortage of affordable housing, opiod abuse is adding to the

problem and despite the best efforts of cities, the problem remains out of control. Sound familiar? If you thought I was talking about Bakersfield, you are wrong. These are excerpts from a new report on homelessness across the nation. Like Bakersfield, cities big and small are facing the same vexing problem in confronting homelessness: it is bad and it is getting worse, and there are no easy solutions.  In Los Angeles just two hours south of us, Mayor Eric Garcetti has responded by dedicating special funding to set up temporary shelters across the city.

 * ... PEREZ: Supervisor Letitia Perez will go on trial in March for allegedly violating conflict of interest laws when she voted to regulate marijuana while her husband, consultant Fernando Jara, represented clients seeking to get into the business. I am still betting this will be settled before trial, but the pressure is on to find a compromise before the March trial.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Apparently putting Alka-Seltzer in my mouth while getting baptized and pretending I’m being possessed by the devil is not funny."

 * ... RIP CHRISTOPHER: Christopher Kreiser lost his battle with cancer this week and with that our community lost a good soul. Kreiser, son of Carney's owner Rick Kreiser and the late Kristen Kreiser, was just 39 years old. He had been undergoing experimental treatment at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles for a few months when he passed. Ironically, it was 10 years ago that his mother, Kristen, died of cancer. Rick Kreiser is the founder of the Guitar Masters concerts series that has raised tens of thousands of dollar for the Kern County Cancer Fund. Christopher is survived by his wife, Katie, and their three children.

 * ... KEN KELLER: Ken Keller, chief operating officer at Memorial Hospital, has been appointed president and CEO following the promotion of former CEO Jon Van Boening. Keller holds a masters in the executive program from the University of New Orleans and a bachelors in pre-medicine from the University of Southwestern Louisiana. Van Boening is now president and senior vice president of operations for all the Dignity Health hospitals in Central California.

 * ... CHEATING: I spotted this on Facebook. Are our women here more likely to cheat? Yes, says the cheating website Ashley Madison.

 * ... MEMORIES: Enjoy this walk down memory lane with this shot of the old Allard Furniture Company building on Baker Street from 1920.

Colleen McGauley out at CASA, Memorial's Jon Van Boening gets a big promotion and KERN radio host Ralph Bailey mixes it up with KHSD candidate Bryan Colebrook

Friday, November 3, 2018

 Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this such a special to live. Send your news tips to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... BRYAN COLEBROOK: We are within a week of the mid-term elections and things are getting hot, not only among the candidates but between some candidates and the press. On the local level, KERN radio host Ralph Bailey mixed it up with Kern High School District candidate Bryan

Colebrook in a less than four minute interview that ended with Bailey abruptly ending the interview. At issue: Colebrook's statement questioning why his opponent Jenifer Pitcher is running when she doesn't have children and is single. Things got hot and the interview went to hell. Colebrook and Pitcher are running neck and neck, so we are left to wonder: will this help or hurt Pitcher, or Colebrook? The Valley Voice, an acerbic online newsletter, posted a video calling Bailey the "town drunk" and saying he basically ambushed Colebrook. Your take?



 * ... DIGNITY HEALTH: Dignity Health, which operates the two local Mercy Hospitals and Memorial Hospital, is going to grow in a big way when it merges with Catholic Health Initiatives, creating a $28 billion health system giant with 700 facilities in 28 states. The deal was announced at the end of last year and is expected to close by the end of this year. CHI is based in Colorado and it operates 103 hospitals, including four academic health centers and major teaching hospitals. Dignity operates hospitals in California, Arizona and Nevada.

 * ... VAN BOENING: The pending merger may explain why Memorial President Jon Van Boening has just been promoted at Dignity, moving into a position making him responsible for the business operations of seven hospitals in Dignity's Central California service area. Van Boening, who has been president of Memorial since 2001, will retain an office in Bakersfield. Meanwhile a search has begun for a new president of Memorial Hospital.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "If anybody tells you you’re putting too much Parmesan on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don’t need that negativity in your life."

 * ... MCGAULEY: After 17 years as head of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) Colleen McGauley is out as its director. No one is saying what really happened (there is a story there somewhere) but CASA said in a news release that McGauley is moving to a new position as senior advisor. Stay tuned.

 * ... GRIMMWAY: Hats off to the employees of Grimmway Farms who spent Saturday helping clean up the area around Lamont. More than 200 employee volunteers and their families pitched in to help clean parks, road and walkways throughout the community.

 * ... MEMORIES: Thanks to the Facebook page Kern County of Old for sharing this old photo of the Grapevine, then and now.

Local West Point graduate is gravely wounded in a suicide attack in Afghanistan and Bakersfield gets ready for the city's most celebrated cooking show, Savor Bakersfield

* ... VAN KOPP: My heart goes out to the family of Samuel Van Kopp, a standout graduate of Bakersfield High School who has been gravely wounded in Afghanistan. His father, local veterinarian Cliff Van Kopp, says his son was hit by shrapnel when a suicide bomber detonated a bomb. Friends say Samuel is the classic high achiever: No. 10 in his class where he excelled at debate and forensics, and on to West Point along with other bright men and women. His Facebook page is testimony to youth, hope, love, friendship and promise. Keep this family in your thoughts. (photos from Van Kopp's Facebook page)

 * ... COOKING SHOW: Our town's most celebrated cooking show - Savor Bakersfield - is coming up on Tuesday, November 13, at Rabobank Arena. This is always a hugely popular event that features boutique shopping, local food and an unforgettable cooking show featuring Dash magazine chef Jon Ashton. There will be food from more than 10 local restaurants including The Padre Hotel, Chef's Choice Noodle Bar,  Johnny Rockets, the Red Pepper, Prime Cut, the Garden Spot and others. Tickets are just $20 (there are discounts for early registration) and there will be raffle drawings throughout the show, including a grand prize of a Kenmore Elite refrigerator freezer. Tickets are available at Rabobank or by phone at (800) 745-3000 and at ticketmaster.com. Sponsors include Smart and Final and 3-Way Chevrolet.

* ... LARRY CARR: The annual Larry Carr Memorial golf tournament to benefit the Memorial Hospital Foundation is being held today (Friday), but there's more to the backstory on this long-held charity event. Before it was named for the late Memorial president Larry Carr, it was called the Buck Owens tournament to support the Buck Owens Foundation.  Said current Memorial CEO Jon Van Boening: "The two best stories of these tournaments were John Wayne getting drunk every tournament at the BCC bar and Johnny Bench claiming he contracted Valley Fever attending one of the tournaments. Both probably true but who knows? When the Buck Owens Foundation decided to stop doing the tournament I picked up the ball and along with John Brock Jr. and Doug Findley (who at that time was partners in Advanced Beverage), started Club Out Cancer to raise money for the American Cancer Society. The ACS tournament existed for 25 years and when that charity decided to get out of golf I took the core of that committee and started the Larry Carr Memorial for Bakersfield Memorial Hospital.  Proceeds from this year's tournament are allocated towards the capital campaign to build a new children’s emergency pavilion at the hospital. "

 * ... PARTY SCHOOLS: If you're a parent with a kid in college, you might be interested in Playboy's annual list of the top party schools. These lists are purely subjective, of course, but it's always interesting to see who makes the cut. The top party school? According to Playboy it's the University of Virginia, followed by the University of Southern California, Florida, Texas, Wisconsin, Georgia, Tulane, Texas Christian and Ohio State.

 * .... SPOTTED: This bit of bad form comes from reader Dee Rhodes. "I was driving south on Highway 99 just a little after lunch today, and took the Golden State Avenue off ramp to come back into town. I came up behind a slow moving Cal Trans utility truck and trailer. As I was about to go around them, the driver and passenger each threw out their lunch wrappers, bags and empty soda cups onto Golden State Avenue.  I thought I had pretty much seen it all ."

  * ... PTSD: Local Rotary Clubs are partnering with the National Alliance on Mental Illness to sponsor a special program on post traumatic stress disorder. The conference will be held next Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 8 pm. at the Good Samaritan Hospital on White Lane. It is open to the public and free. The program is specifically designed for veterans, first responders, their families and virtually anyone else. For more information or to make a reservation, contact Patrice Maniaci at namikernpatrice@gmail.com or (661) 333-5484.

Nebraska Cornhusker fans gather in Bako and Californian Radio will host Cal State men's basketball coach Rod Barnes on Monday

 * ... CORNHUSKERS: So who knew that a group of University of Nebraska fans gather each Saturday at Goose Loonies to take in Cornhusker football? Local businessman Bob Tebbe said up to 25 fans meet each Saturday to root on the Big Ten team. Tebbe said the fans range in age from "from early 20s to 80 and just as many women as men, sometimes more. We are made up of  professionals, truck drivers, a judge, business owners, firemen, veterinarian, retirees ... just really nice people who have one thing in common.... a love of Nebraska."

 * ... CSUB: It may be football season but it's never too early to talk college basketball. On Monday, CSUB men's basketball coach Rod Barnes will join me on Californian Radio (KERN 1180) to talk about the prospects for the Roadrunners as the team goes deep into Division 1 play. The team just returned from Bermuda and a series of exhibition games. The show begins at 9 a.m.

 * ... BROCK DINNER: Hats off to Jon Van Boening, the president of Memorial Hospital who was honored with the John Brock Community Service Award at the annual dinner last week at Seven Oaks Country Club. Van Boening has been quietly steering Memorial during a period of hyper growth and has built an impressive team to offer the best quality care. The Brock dinner, sponsored by the CSUB School of Business, is always a good opportunity for our community's business and civic leaders to recognize one of their own.

 * ... SPOTTED: At a local Vons,  a woman pulls her loaded cart up to the express lane (15 items or  fewer) and proceeds to empty the cart 15 items at a time, paying at each interval until her cart was empty.

* ... KIWANIS: One of my regular contributors, Dona M. Baker, dropped me a note to remind me of the good that the Oildale Kiwanis club does each year for students at Standard and Beardsley elementary schools. Each year the club purchases back to school clothes and back packs for kids at the schools, meeting the kids at a local Target to select the supplies. Dona also wanted me to remind all World War II veterans to be part of the annual Veteran's Day Parade Nov. 12.

 * ... GOLF: If you want to support the Wounded Heroes Foundation of Kern County, you may want to sign up for the third annual Wounded Heroes golf tournament at Bakersfield Country Club. Club pro Bruce Burroughs told me the event is this Saturday, September 15, starting at noon with a shotgun start. Call the pro shop at (661) 871-4121 to sign up. All donations are welcome.

Memorial Hospital launches major push to bring a much-needed Children's Hospital to Bakersfield

 
 Memorial Hospital has launched an aggressive plan to bring a children's hospital to Bakersfield, alleviating the need for countless of our ill children to be shipped to Madera or Los Angeles for treatment. This is one of those high profile campaigns you are going to hear a lot of about, and I think it's an important one to support. The idea, according to Memorial CEO Jon Van Boening, is to create a "hospital within a hospital" dedicated to kids. Bakersfield isn't big enough to justify a stand-alone children's hospital, but it certainly is big enough to have a facility here that can absorb most of the younger patients. The hospital will include:

 ... Neonatal Intensive Care Unit - This NCIU offers state of the art monitoring technology for patients who remain hospitalized for weeks or months.
 ... Expanded Pediatric In-Patient Department: Memorial will upgrade and expand the Pediatrics Dept. from 12 to 22 accute pediatric beds.
 ... Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: This PICU will be the only dedicated PICU in the southern Valley and feature eight beds for seriously ill children.
 ... Out-patient Clinis: Our area is now underserved by specialists such as Pediatric Cardiologists and Endocrinologists, meaning kids have to be flown to Los Angeles or Fresno/Madera. Specialty clinics on the Memorial campus will provide these critical services in a local setting.

 In all the children's center will have some 60 beds and the costs are estimated at around $3 million. This is a worthwhile effort, spearheaded by Van Boening and development director Sue Benham, and it deserves our support. No doubt we'll be hearing  more about this as the months go by.

Memorial Honors Dr. Hans Einstein, pioneer in Valley Fever research and mentor to doctors

Some long overdue recognition for Dr. Hans Einstein is coming today at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital. Dr. Einstein, one of the nation's foremost experts on Valley Fever, will be recognized in an afternoon ceremony at Memorial. The event will be held at the Hans Einstein Pavilion (pictured) which should open later this year. The Pavilion is just the latest capital project over at Memorial, which has spent millions on renovations and a new tower. Under CEO Jon van Boening, Memorial has been aggressive in marketing itself in the never ending fight for market share. Not only has Einstein been a pioneer in Valley Fever research, but he's also served as a mentor to countless doctors in our community.